


Enough

by aidansidhe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dark Hermione Granger, F/M, Song Inspired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 10:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20207953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aidansidhe/pseuds/aidansidhe
Summary: After all the death, the suffering, one man has had enough.





	Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by The Queen and the Soldier by Suzanne Vega

It was raining as the rider thundered toward the keep, his cloak clutched tightly against the wind. His eyes peered through the obscuring curtain of water as he reflected on the decades since the fall. Since the loss that shattered the world. Sighing, he passed the rusted remains of yet another automobile and the derelict carcass of the Hogwarts Express. Knowing his journey had another hour to go, he huddled close to his heaving horse for warmth.

The rain cut shortly before he slowed to a canter as he approached the gates of Hogwarts. Once a center of learning, now it is the bastion of the Queen’s control. From here, her grip stretched far and wide from Albion to the shores of the continent where the war raged on. It had been ten years since she solidified her grip on Britain and the Isles. Five since she toppled France and Spain. The Witch Queen of Albion, Hermione Granger, destroyed that which she deemed unredeemable and ruled with an iron fist.

Tapping the proper sequence on the great seal had the door swing open, his wand signature recognized. The misty morning obscured the fine dusting of the Thief’s Downfall to dispel any control and disguise. Casting back his hood, General Neville Longbottom strode towards the front gate. As he approached, a suit of armor opened the door for him, permitting him entry. Nodding, he followed the familiar paths to the secured Throne Room, once the Great Hall.

“You are unexpected, General Longbottom.”

The words floated in his ears as he grimaced faintly. It would not do to show signs of displeasure before the Queen. Her voice, unchanged despite twenty years passing, caused him to turn with a bow, “Your Majesty. I have come to speak with you on an urgent matter.” His face, lined with worry and the years spent at war, was impassive as he gazed upon her, as unchanged as her voice.

“Speak,” She commanded imperiously from her throne. Her eyebrow arched as he felt faint tendrils of Legilimency worming their way into his mind.

“I am done, your Majesty. You conquered Britain and have a foothold on the continent. But why? What possible good does this continued war serve?” As she began to retort, he broke in, “Harry is dead, Hermione. He died twenty years ago. That thing you have sequestered behind the throne is nothing but an empty shell.” He stepped boldly forward, her magic pressing against him as he made his way to her. “Who is this war even for?”

She stood abruptly, her eyes afire with fury, “It is for him. It has ALL been for him. The Ministry that betrayed him? Conquered. The Country that allowed him to slip through the cracks and permitted him to live in hell? Under my control. The fetid BITCH that… that stole his soul… Put down like the feral dog she was. You tell me, Neville Longbottom. If Hannah lay still before you, if the one you loved more than life itself was taken, what would you do? When would it ever be enough?”

He nodded before snapping his arm out and snaring her own, dragging her to a window, “You know what I see? I see the corpse of our nation rotting around you. I see the home that he fought for. That he bled for, dead. His work. Your work. OUR work in vain.” He let her go with a light shove, sending her sprawling to the floor. “I want to go forth from here and rebuild. I want to sow the seeds to revitalize our lands. To make this place a haven for our kind, instead of the hell it has become. I want to finally have children with Hannah, instead of killing people who weren’t even alive when Harry died. I am done, Hermione. This is goodbye.”

He turned to leave, and halfway across the hall he heard a soft voice, “You’re… right. Wait outside the doors and I will send a message with you allowing you safe passage.”

Neville nodded and left Hogwarts for the last time, the doors closing behind him. He never saw the green flash that ended his life.

Deep in a warded room ensconced behind the throne, Hermione Granger, Mistress of Death, Immortal Witch Queen of Albion, stroked Harry’s hair as she kissed his cold forehead, “Someday, my love. Someday I will find a way to get you back. No matter what it takes.”


End file.
